1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an emergency medication package.
In particular, the invention is directed to a package for a syringe to be used for injecting medication under conditions where time is of critical importance.
2. The Prior Art
There is a variety of medical emergencies where the speed at which medication can be administered to a patient is of critical importance. For example, in the event of cardiac arrest the time required for injecting a heart stimulant may literally means the difference between life and death of the patient.
For such applications, emergency medication systems have been developed which contain, in one package, a syringe (injector) and a vial of the medication to be injected with the syringe. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,869,062 describes such a system in which the syringe and the vial are accommodated in a carton in side-by-side relationship. The user tears open one end of the carton, allows the syringe and the vial to slide out, then attaches the vial to the syringe and is now ready to perform the injection.
This system drastically reduces the time previously required to prepare the equipment for use. However, it does still require that a connection be established between the vial and the syringe before injection can begin. If, under the pressure of events, this connection is not properly made, injection is impossible and the connection must either be released and properly established or the system be discarded and a new system be readied for use. In either case, valuable time will be lost. Even if the connection is initially correctly made, some time will be lost which may be of critical importance in the race to save the patient's life.